Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 20:57     Subject: Professor opinion on UChicago Financial Crisis
Anonymous wrote:Why are some colleges much better run? I know that USC is having problems. Schools like BU, Northeastern, NYU don't seem to have these problems. It seems every school is investing in STEM. I don't need to pick on UChicago or USC, but it is strange that some schools are hurting while others are doing fine.

Because it’s hard being a higher Ed admin (unpopular take, but you try running a billion dollar organization) and it’s all based off of luck- how many of your key donors want to budge and give $100mil that year? How productive are your faculty in securing record breaking grants? If there’s a bad economy for a while, that can really mess with your alumni outcomes and stunt how much young alumni are willing to give
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 20:45     Subject: Professor opinion on UChicago Financial Crisis
Why are some colleges much better run? I know that USC is having problems. Schools like BU, Northeastern, NYU don't seem to have these problems. It seems every school is investing in STEM. I don't need to pick on UChicago or USC, but it is strange that some schools are hurting while others are doing fine.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 20:38     Subject: Professor opinion on UChicago Financial Crisis
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:It’s shocking to me that the University of Chicago is funding new laboratory facilities etc by borrowing and there seems to have been no discussion re: raising any of the shortfall from alumni donations..

It does seem that some schools just don’t have much of a culture of alumni giving, and that is a relevant factor to look at when evaluating the financial health of a school (vs. just looking at endowment).

This is what confuses me. Chicago graduates people who make a ton of money- astrophysicists who became data scientists, math majors that go into quant finance, Econ and business majors that go into IB and PE, public policy leaders, etc. What in the world is going on with whoever is directing alumni relations?


Many colleges cultivate loyal & generous alumni via sports, & with the proliferation of televised sports, this is easier than ever. Maybe it’s time for UChicago to rejoin the Big 10
.


Foreign and immigrant students, the most successful university students, don't care about the football team like legacy mediocre old money white guys of yore.
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 20:36     Subject: Professor opinion on UChicago Financial Crisis
Anonymous wrote:People with money who remember their college years fondly donate. Those that remember it as a slog do not. Hence why the school with the moto - where fun goes to die” is in financial difficulty.


UChicago alumni know better than to write "hence why".
Anonymous
Post 01/11/2025 20:33     Subject: Professor opinion on UChicago Financial Crisis
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Professor Ando publishes the same article, essentially, every year. Here is one from 2023 that makes all the same points

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://chicagomaroon.com/40486/news/uchicago-professor-sounds-alarm-over-troubling-university-finances/&ved=2ahUKEwibo7bk2OmKAxXrElkFHRULCkMQFnoECCsQAQ&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw1SFaRElv4jkgrS9Fxtbg8f

It is all worth discussing but bear in mind he is a classics / ancient history professor who thinks that spending borrowed money for STEM while his own department is underfunded is a travesty.

DCUM ignoring that is classic DCUM


This.

He has an axe to grind.

-1 just not a truthful analysis. He’s been honest about the state of finances that have been promised by the school. He’s reasonably upset that an institution with the endowment of Chicago cannot afford its programs and is making severe cuts. This is affecting all faculty.